I fall in love with hope
("Have A Little Faith", by Mitch Albom)
Senandung Cinta dari Rumah Kayu
A good book. Written by Dee & Kuti. Telling about family, friendship and love. Just a simple one. A perfect companion while sipping a cup of hot chocolate.
Check their blog here.
A Lovely Long Weekend
I really enjoyed last long weekend:
- Visited Salabintana, Sukabumi. Old hotel, big trees, green surrounding, green...green..everywhere. What a fresh air. From Sukabumi, we continued our journey to Puncak and finally had dinner at Cimory. Nice place, good food and friendly playground. My girls love it.
- Finished reading Kronik Betawi written by Ratih Kumala. A story that reminds me of Si Doel Anak Sekolahan since it tells about Betawi completely, i.e. the people, the history, the culture, etc. I enjoyed the Bahasa Betawi in this novel a lot.
- Watched Sang Pemimpi and love it. Truly inspiring.
Sympathy for Prita Mulyasari
Menjadi dokter itu baik
Menjadi pedagang juga baik
Tetapi bila mencampurkan keduanya, maka menjadi tidak baik sama sekali
(Dr. Gan Koen Han, Guru Besar Mikrobiologi FKUI tahun 1952)
Mafalda
I am not a big fan of comic strip, I prefer books without any illustration, so I can have my own unlimited imagination about the story I read. But, not for this comic strip, from the moment I saw it, I abruptly felt in love with this cute little girl, Mafalda.
Mafalda is an approximately-6-yr-old-Argentine-girl, who is deeply concerned about humanity and world peace, she's the lead character of the comic strip written and drawn by Argentine cartoonist, JOAQUIN SALVADOR LAVADO (pen name QUINO) long time a go, back in 1964 to 1973. Mafalda is very popular, it's been translated into 30 languages.
Although it's been made long time a go, but since mankind problems are still same old boring matters. i.e: poverty, corruption, war, etc, therefore Mafalda still seems up-to-date with today's condition and we still can enjoy it.
Thank you to Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia (KPG) that already translated this comic strip and plan to publish Mafalda every month. So far Mafalda 1 and Mafalda 2 already in bookstores. Can't wait for the next Mafalda. Also thank you to Icha for the reference.
Finally, I can add my favorite comic strip list, beside Wimpy Kid, now please welcome Mafalda.
note: above picture is the sculpture of Mafalda made by Argentine sculptor, Pablo Irrgang, installed in Buenos Aires.
Tanah Tabu
Di ujung sabar, ada perlawanan
Di batas nafsu, ada kehancuran
Dan airmata hanyalah untuk yang lemah
Curious about this novel written by Anindita S. Thayf after reading the tag line at the front of its cover as the First Winner of Sayembara Novel DKJ 2008.
The story takes place in Papua, not a common setting for a novel. The lead character here is a little girl named Leksi and her strong grandma, Mabel, her mom, Mace and her two pet friends, Pum and Kwee.
The author wrote about Papua --a beautiful place with its green forest, the rivers, the people and their unique culture-- in a detail way, it must be needed a serious research for all the description appeared in this novel. But talking about Papua, it's not only talking about good things, as we know, up until now there are also many problems there, the poverty, the illiteracy, the dispute between Papua people and the newcomers, the domestic violence done by drunk hubbies to their poor wives, and many more. Honestly, reading this novel makes me feel deep sympathy for Papua and all the problems around it.
Two thumbs up for Anindita, who could perfectly conveyed the story of Papua in a remarkable way. I love the way she told her story, all in all it really is a recommended novel.
Hard-Boiled Wonderland & the End of the World
I mostly fall in love with Haruki Murakami's works, particularly when he writes about love and relationship, it's always so simple, different and touchy. I didn't find those kind of things in this book. This book tells about weird things, so weird until I couldn't imagine it, it's just beyond my imagination and I knew that Murakami is a master in all these things.
You'll find a lot of bizarre characters here, there's a split-brained data processor, a crazy professor who believes that the world is going to end, a dream reader, a strange town that needs people to leave their shadows if they want to enter it, the beasts, the monsters, and the list of these strange characters will go on and on since this story really needs your big imagination if you want to enjoy it.
Well..it's not going to be an easy reading book though, but it's still worth to read since I guess this book is really a delicious mind food.
Najla vs Her Grandma
My home is nearby my parents' home, yep, that's simply my strategy as a 9-to-5 worker, in case my girls are sick or something happens with the nanny, I can ask my parents to take care of them, I know it's not a good thing to do though, but still I have to admit that I am lucky..:D
Therefore, my parents regularly visit our home and have some chitchat with their granddaughters. A Couple days a go, my mom a.k.a Najla's grandma came to our home. I was still in the office. Grandma, Najla and Nayzea played happily. Out of the blue, Najla did something wrong and her grandma advised her not to do that again. Najla got upset about it, she cried and finally said, "Nenek, pulang aja, nenek nggak usah kerja di sini lagi. Her Grandma was left speechless, couldn't believe that she just being fired by her dear granddaughter...:)
